Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1887-02-20
BY MARION HARLAN.
Copyrighted, 1887, by the Author
Our BABY,

stop up NY ears anu run Wnen tley Degln
that sort of can't" The other resisted
"But do care to hear this! They are
discussing the reform-dress for infants
and-maybe you don't know that we have
a baby-my sister-at our house. That
makes sll the difference in the world, you
see."
With the tenancy of the cradle in "oul
house" other topics beside the reform
dress start suddenly into prominence.
We never pass child on the street with
out seeing it. The gutter-baby, pat-a-
caking mud-pies on the curb-stone; the
patr:Gian baby making round eyes at the
little AIaG through the carriage window
the sickly baby, the healthy baby, pretty
babies and homeIy babies IF such exist
sll pun at the check-string of our hearts,
each reminding US in some way Of the
tiny bundle Of warm Inconsistencies al
home, Tapped in love and fed on kisses
We letter before windows which display
baby clothes; emulate the sweet nonsense
of Traddles and his ''deareSt grip in Sc
! lecting the toys we will buy for the boy
when he begins to take notice. When
caught lingering over school catalogues
we blush and laugh fooiishly, and nobody
except his father and mother is privy to
the secret of the savings bank account
! begun in his own name when he was 8
day old. "All the difference in the
world?" Yes. and in the universe.
Ours is always 3 wonderful baby |
confess to a sensation of cnagrin when a
young mother does not confess this di-
rectly, or indirectly. In some one par
ticulsr, if not in all, he resembles no other
oh md ~
the infant creation.
Many years ago 1 witnessed an illus
tration of this vicarious vanity that
shocked my girlish sense Of fitness, but
which recall now with reverence.
neighbours child was as the old wives in
sisted, "marked" by snake on which
the mother trod in the garden one
day before it was born. The
recollection of the deformed baby lent
an awful fascination to "Elsie Verner,;'
when l read it twenty years atterWard.
She was an idiot girl and had never
walked when she died at the age of sisi
Her skin was covered with scales, her
head was fat, ner eyes were narrow dand
black. ChanCing to call at the housetone
day, l saw the poor little thing-usIally
screened from curious eyes-roll aad
Wiggle across the floor to the mothers
ieet, and grasping her dress, laugh up in
her face. Such laugh The cleft tongue
shot out with hiss: the forehead re-
ceded entirely under the low forelock;fh
eyes gleamed-the whole effect was.fnde-
sCribably revolving. And the mother q
handsome woman in her prime, caught up
the animate horror, covered her with
kisses and called her the "deareSt, lDyliT
est rosebud ever made" s
Our baby is always an "incompafabfy-
sweet angel" the rose of the world. The
divine ingenuity that lays up against his
coming such store Of mother-love does
not over-estimste the prospective de-
mand upon the supply. The care of baby
takes more Of mammals time, draws
more heavily upon her nerve power and
physical strength than all her other
duties combined. She is not her own
property by day or by night. There are
as many anxious as happy thoughts Of
him. She is never quite easy when he is
out of her sight, never quiet when he is
present unless he is asleep, and then
holds her breath to listen for his.
All this and so much more to the same
effect is true that we declare without reser-
walton, that the active business of moth
erhood gives active occupation to the
hands, heart and head of any one woman.
She can no more escape the weight than
can her husband from the burden of his
craft or profession. The one is to her
what the other is to him. This is the
kernel of our "talk" You, discouraged
mother, bewailing your pinioned
hands and stasnating mind, fret
ting for the liberty OF a toilless
girlhood, for the gala days that are no
more, ready to cry out upon marriage as
thralldom and maternity as degradation
make the mistake of reversing the order
of duties. Your husband, with juster
sense of values, resigns recreation when
prudence bids him bide by the stuff, or
watch over investments; when he espies
chance to make money postpones to q
more convenient season the merry
making. His h. lidays are sandWiched
between so many weeks that he almost
forgets the flavor of one before another
comes. Should he complain you would
call him faint-hearted and think him lazy.
Yet yours is the nobler and far more
important work. He makes money that
perishes with his using (and other peo-
ple'S). You make men and women who
live forever, and through all that forever
bear the imprint you stamp upon them.
He seeks fame that will be his during his
lifetime. You are carving tablets for the
never ending years. The sublime patience
OF him who"psinted for posterity" should
be in you informed by 3 more ssnguine
faith, wider and clearer outlook. None
of us can, If only for her own
sake, afford to slur over one OF
itheseAduties that develop into some
distinct and grander proportions Win
our children's growth. In Iivingour
lives over with them, we keep ourselves
young, yet gain q serener dignity of
womanhood. Instead Of growing intel
lectuallY rusty, we must avail ourselves
of every means within our range Of
studying with and fer them. The true
hearted and far-sighted mother keeps q
place open in society to which she may